Is my expereince unique? 2003 Passat

I need to vent.

I purchased a 2003 Passat GLS new in August 2003. The car has been
generally reliable. Until recently, I've really been very happy with it.
But now, with 75,000 miles on it, that's starting to change. I wonder if
my experience is unique, or if my expectations are out of line given the
car's age and mileage.

Over the last year or so, each time I have taken the car to the dealer
for service, they have found something that needs to be repaired, and
its usually been something fairly costly. For example, in December I
took it in for the 75,000 mile service. They called me to say that the
brake fluid is dirty and should be flushed, that the outer CV boots are
failing and should be replaced, and that the timing belt is fraying and
needs to be changed. The total cost - over $1900. I refused and a couple
of weeks ago I was able to negotiate the cost down to an acceptable
amount, and I took the car in to have those things taken care of today.

No surprise, the phone just rang. Its the dealer calling, the "cam
seals" are leaking oil. I have not noticed an oil leak. The service rep
assures me this is only going to get worse. He tells me this is normally
a $700 job, but since the car is already apart, they can do it for $300.

I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.

Maybe its time to get rid of this car.

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

In m Art Greenberg
> wrote:

> I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.

It sounds like you don't trust your dealer's service department, or
agree with his pricing.

> Maybe its time to get rid of this car.

Maybe it's time to take your car elsewhere for service?

If nothing else, a second opinion will help you decide if it's time to
dump your car.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

On 16 Feb 2010 15:00:52 GMT, Bert Hyman wrote:
> In m Art Greenberg
> > wrote:
>
> > I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.
>
> It sounds like you don't trust your dealer's service department, or
> agree with his pricing.

Its certainly difficult to be comfortable with them.

I also do not have a feel for what kind of things to expect from this
car at this stage in its life. That makes every service an adventure of
sorts. An adventure I can do without.

> > Maybe its time to get rid of this car.
>
> Maybe it's time to take your car elsewhere for service?
>
> If nothing else, a second opinion will help you decide if it's time to
> dump your car.

Agree. I'd have done that already if the dealer had not agreed to reduce
the price of this service. I felt like telling them not to replace the
cam seals would be too much of a gamble, likely to cost much more if
done separately from the other work being done today.

I'll try taking it to another dealer for service next time and see what
happens.

When I was much younger I used to do a lot of the work on my cars. I
gave that up a while ago in favor of devoting the time to other
responsibilities and interests. My recent experience sometimes makes me
wish I had not given it up.

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

In m Art Greenberg
> wrote:

> I also do not have a feel for what kind of things to expect from this
> car at this stage in its life. That makes every service an adventure
> of sorts. An adventure I can do without.
>

I have an '02 Passat GLS 1.8T wagon that's given me only one "sticker
shock" repair (a throttle body problem which incidently nearly got me
killed when the car went into "limp" mode as I exited a freeway), and
overall has been cheap and reliable (of course, my previous cars include
a Saab and a BMW, so maybe I'm just used to high maintenance costs).

I only have about 45K miles on it, so I'm not sure my experience can be
compared.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

Timing belt replacement is normal for the mileage. The CV boots need only
replacing when they are ripped. You can check this yourself. I've never seen
a cam seal leaking with that mileage. Maybe a bit wet that's all, don't
worry about it.

SFC

"Art Greenberg" > schreef in bericht
m...
>I need to vent.
>
> I purchased a 2003 Passat GLS new in August 2003. The car has been
> generally reliable. Until recently, I've really been very happy with it.
> But now, with 75,000 miles on it, that's starting to change. I wonder if
> my experience is unique, or if my expectations are out of line given the
> car's age and mileage.
>
> Over the last year or so, each time I have taken the car to the dealer
> for service, they have found something that needs to be repaired, and
> its usually been something fairly costly. For example, in December I
> took it in for the 75,000 mile service. They called me to say that the
> brake fluid is dirty and should be flushed, that the outer CV boots are
> failing and should be replaced, and that the timing belt is fraying and
> needs to be changed. The total cost - over $1900. I refused and a couple
> of weeks ago I was able to negotiate the cost down to an acceptable
> amount, and I took the car in to have those things taken care of today.
>
> No surprise, the phone just rang. Its the dealer calling, the "cam
> seals" are leaking oil. I have not noticed an oil leak. The service rep
> assures me this is only going to get worse. He tells me this is normally
> a $700 job, but since the car is already apart, they can do it for $300.
>
> I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.
>
> Maybe its time to get rid of this car.
>
> --
> Art Greenberg
> artg at eclipse dot net
>

On 2/16/2010 6:52 AM, Art Greenberg wrote:
> Over the last year or so, each time I have taken the car to the dealer
> for service, they have found something that needs to be repaired, and
> its usually been something fairly costly. For example, in December I
> took it in for the 75,000 mile service. They called me to say that the
> brake fluid is dirty and should be flushed, that the outer CV boots are
> failing and should be replaced, and that the timing belt is fraying and
> needs to be changed. The total cost - over $1900. I refused and a couple
> of weeks ago I was able to negotiate the cost down to an acceptable
> amount, and I took the car in to have those things taken care of today.
>
> No surprise, the phone just rang. Its the dealer calling, the "cam
> seals" are leaking oil. I have not noticed an oil leak. The service rep
> assures me this is only going to get worse. He tells me this is normally
> a $700 job, but since the car is already apart, they can do it for $300.

I have a 2009 VW Rabbit (and also owned a 2006 at one point), and I
believe that around 80,000 miles is the normal time to replace the
timing belt in recent model Volkswagens, so the report about your timing
belt doesn't surprise me. It wouldn't hurt to have it replaced. Also,
they might not see the condition of the cam seals until they get into
the engine to replace the timing belt, so that might be why they didn't
tell you about the cam seals until you brought it in to get the timing
belt replaced.

Several years ago, I owned a car that seemed to go through oil fairly
quickly. I didn't notice any leaks, but when I took it in to have it
checked, they said they found some leakage and the cam seals needed
replacement. That seemed to help a little, but not completely.

> I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.
>
> Maybe its time to get rid of this car.

$1900 does seem a bit high.. As others have suggested, maybe you could
look into taking the car somewhere else for service.

Eric

On 2/16/2010 6:52 AM, Art Greenberg wrote:
> I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.
>
> Maybe its time to get rid of this car.

Another thing to remember is that some of the services will be more
expensive than others. That's true for any car. The reason is that for
certain services, there are more major things that need to be done.
Replacing the timing belt can cost more money than other services
because they have to open up the engine in order to do it, and as long
as they're opening the engine, they often recommend replacing other
parts that need the engine opened, such as the cam seals, water pump,
etc.. Because they have to open the engine for those things, you'll
spend less money if you have them all replaced at the same time than you
would if you had them replaced at separate times.

Eric

Do they show you what they find?
MAKE THEM GIVE YOU YOUR OLD PARTS BACK!!!! At least the solid stuff. ;-)

CV boots are easy to see if you look under the vehicle or turn the wheels.
Yeah they go bad!

Timing Belt is a little harder to see but 75K miles seems a little early
unless the timing belt tensioner is noisy.

Brake Fluid is supposed to be flushed every 2 years but some dealers sell
some "maintenance" jobs like candy and I have seen them try to sell this job
to one person within a 3 month period.
That confused & worried her so she decided to get a second opinion. hint
hint.

Some places are starving and will sell you things you may not need to get
your $$$

JMHO
One out of many daves


"Art Greenberg" > wrote in message
m...
>I need to vent.
>
> I purchased a 2003 Passat GLS new in August 2003. The car has been
> generally reliable. Until recently, I've really been very happy with it.
> But now, with 75,000 miles on it, that's starting to change. I wonder if
> my experience is unique, or if my expectations are out of line given the
> car's age and mileage.
>
> Over the last year or so, each time I have taken the car to the dealer
> for service, they have found something that needs to be repaired, and
> its usually been something fairly costly. For example, in December I
> took it in for the 75,000 mile service. They called me to say that the
> brake fluid is dirty and should be flushed, that the outer CV boots are
> failing and should be replaced, and that the timing belt is fraying and
> needs to be changed. The total cost - over $1900. I refused and a couple
> of weeks ago I was able to negotiate the cost down to an acceptable
> amount, and I took the car in to have those things taken care of today.
>
> No surprise, the phone just rang. Its the dealer calling, the "cam
> seals" are leaking oil. I have not noticed an oil leak. The service rep
> assures me this is only going to get worse. He tells me this is normally
> a $700 job, but since the car is already apart, they can do it for $300.
>
> I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.
>
> Maybe its time to get rid of this car.
>
> --
> Art Greenberg
> artg at eclipse dot net
>